I find it pretty hard to describe this Anime. Set in the early 1930s you find almost all of the characters somehow related to the Mafia who fight their bloody wars for survival and supremacy. But this is not a story about illegal whiskey bars and Al Capone, although Mafia terrorism is in there.

There is a group of immortals with a recovery ability that puts entire clans of highlanders to shame, called into existence by a demonic presence who gifted only one of them with the knowledge of how to make the elixir of life. But the hunt of various people for that knowledge is only a part of the whole thing.
Watching Baccano! can leave you very confused, because it's like reading a trilogy, and all books at the same time. You have to be aware of story elements switching between 1930, 1931 and 1932. It's very interesting to see how the loose ends are knotted together in the end and how everything blends into a picture, but until that it's very, very strange storytelling.

I was very amazed by the characters, for the reason that with only very few exception they are all experienced fighters and killers, and the display of their skills leads to some real grotesque violence. With the exception of Miria and Isaac, a couple of bubblebrained robbers with lots of luck at their hands, I find it hard to spot really likable lead characters (okay, we can talk about Ennis), which is actually a minus, well, it would be a minus if many of the bad-asses wouldn't be kinda cool, in a nasty sort of way, but still... I mean, the moment you start liking the "Rail Tracer" for his twisted sense of justice he does something... sick.

Animation quality is really high and fight choreography is also. The action is very cool and brings a lot of suspense, of course, with regular cliffhangers as the story jumps from one year and place to another.
The background music remains true to its name and stays in the background. I hardly realized it was there. Listening to it separately is only for those who like smooth jazz lounge and elevator music.
The voice acting was done very well, with a very good cast. It also has Yamaguchi Kappei in a weirdo minor role of a Mafia torture master.

Baccano! invites to be watched more than once if you're not appalled by the high level of violence, with lots of bullet holes, knife cuts and stabs, spraying blood, blasted heads and severed limbs, because it might be hard to keep track of all the character and chapter relations when seeing it for the first time. The story has a lot of characters, I'd say. There are so many that the producers thought it necessary to display their names in every opening sequence. Furthermore, the names are what the Japanese creator thinks are Italian, German and American (or whatever) names:

Some are realistic, some are not. If they hadn't given all the names in Roman letters in the opening, the subbers would have had a real bad day I suppose.

Edit: The TV release ends with episode 13, but it seems there are three bonus episodes in the DVD box. I have just seen episode #14, and I'm not sure yet whether this is gonna be a worthy add-on.
#15 and 16 have not been spotted yet.

Joined: March 11th, 2007, 11:19 amPosts: 2452Location: In the Tardis, off to who knows where in who knows when!

Hmm, my friend just told me about the extra three Baccano! episodes so I came on here to tell you about them, except it appears you are one step ahead of me! I just got done downloading them. Have you finished all three of them off yet? And if so, how are these extra episodes and what are they about?

Episodes 14-16 seemed a lot like an extended epilogue. A lot of time is spent on a storyline that doesn't really go anywhere involving another verbose sociopath. Despite the introduction of another character the extra episodes are mainly about providing a little more depth to some of the minor characters from the main episodes and tying up a few loose ends as well as making a few more.

Does the way you worded this mean that the extra episodes are "Easter eggs" to be found by the viewers, or is that just how I'm reading it?

They're extras in the DVD release and just add-ons without much relation to the original story line. They're interesting if you haven't gotten enough of cool/mad fighting techniques... like that meachanic with his wrench.

Its styled extremely like a British movie. Or maybe just like Snatch and Lock Stock, which might not be an indication of all British movies. But well, whatever. Starts at several points at once, focuses on a multitude of characters at different times and it all comes together piece by piece, like a jigsaw puzzle being put together. Which is an interesting approaches, and I thought Bccanno did it fairly well even if I did feel a bit lost at the start.

It was a refreshing show to watch, and I liked it quite a bit. And well, gotta love a bastard who grinds someone off the ground while hanging off a train.

The last episode was shown yesterday evening and the conclusion came across just great.It's interesting that you mentioned it being like a British movie, because I don't know any theoretical stuff about movies or styles so I don't really know what a "British movie" actually is in comparison to whatever.Of course there were quite a lot of people who said that they really needed to watch it a second time in order to get more of the ties belonging together, how different comments by the characters fit to one another and so on.Last but not least I'd really want an art book. Even if it was just for Ennis and Chane.

Our "bonus program" was a complete failure so far. "Binchôtan" hasn't found too many friends, so after the main feature everyone leaves and only three hardcore fans remain. As the club's president I am considering giving these three a sort of prize at the end of the season. The show has at least four great Seiyû in it (Nonaka Ai, Satô Rina, Kadowaki Mai and Inoue "o-Nee-san" Kikuko), but, well, apart from being super cute it actually has nothing to offer.

Found this series and decided to do the usual rounds. Wikipedia summary(just the general overview), check Animetric for review, and check forums for a topic. Lucky me, 42317 did a detailed summary that is good. Ok, so I know a little about the series now its time for the first episode.

To describe my main emotion after watching the first episode as overwhelmed, would be an understatement. The whole episode is a tad confusing just because of the ton of characters that are thrown at the viewer scene after scene. Of course I imagine after the fifth episode I should know all the characters a bit.

Animation was great, characters(all 100 of them ) seem to be interesting, and the story(which got me interested) seemed like it could hold up. Episode two will probably be watched tomorrow.

Joined: March 11th, 2007, 11:19 amPosts: 2452Location: In the Tardis, off to who knows where in who knows when!

Oh yes, the episodes can get kind of confusing. If I remember correctly most of the episodes have various scenes during three different timelines, which does make it a bit tougher to follow but after a little while you start to get into the flow of it all. Having all the timelines, and how well they pull it all together, is one of the aspects that make Baccano! great. Then you have some absolutely wonderful characters and the package as a whole is just a joy to watch.

I'm not sure what advice you're looking for, so the only thing I can tell you is to keep on going, it shouldn't disappoint!

Found this series and decided to do the usual rounds. Wikipedia summary(just the general overview), check Animetric for review, and check forums for a topic. Lucky me, 42317 did a detailed summary that is good.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum